Morning snowstorm snarls traffic, air travel

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Snow blanketed bikes at Wellesley College Wednesday as a storm dropped 3 to 5 inches of the white stuff on the area.

By Lauren Dezenski and John R. EllementGlobe Correspondent and Globe Staff
January 17, 2013

Travel conditions returned to normal late Wednesday after the morning’s snowstorm snarled traffic and delayed flights at Logan International Airport, the National Weather Service said.

Boston received 3.2 inches of snow overnight into the morning. Other areas, including Foxborough, which was hit with the largest snowfall statewide, got 5 inches. Only the Cape and islands were spared from a blanketing, the Weather Service in Taunton said.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation ­deployed 1,558 plow crews statewide at one point to clear roads flush with slush or covered by snow.

State Police reported 115 crashes during the commute, more than normal, though they could not confirm that every crash was weather-related. ­Authorities reported spinouts on multiple roadways and slow traffic around the region.

The Weather Service also warned of black ice Wednesday night as temperatures fall.

Weather-related delays disappeared by noon at Logan. ­Arrivals had been delayed from 30 to 45 minutes in the morning as Massport crews worked to de-ice planes and keep runways open, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

An MBTA spokesman said slippery roads had forced ­numerous bus lines and the Silver Line to shift to snow routes.

Commuters’ woes were compounded in the morning when a passenger at Back Bay Station reported smelling an odor of natural gas. The MBTA and the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railway Co. said service on several rail lines was delayed while the odor was checked out. No gas leak was found and service resumed.

Although Thursday is ­expected to be sunny with a temperature in the lower 40s, the Weather Service anticipates Boston to get increasingly colder over the next week.